US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan, during a press conference in Israel on Friday. PHOTO: REUTERS
Israeli and Hamas forces fought across Gaza on Friday, witnesses said, suggesting Israel's ground offensive met stiffer resistance as the US pushed its ally to change a war strategy that has caused a huge number of civilian casualties.
Residents of the small enclave reported fighting in Sheijaia, Sheikh Radwan, Zeitoun, Tuffah and Beit Hanoun in northern Gaza, east of Maghazi in central Gaza and in the center and northern outskirts of the main southern city of Khan Younis.
Hospitals in Deir al-Balah, Khan Younis and Rafah reported a new influx of dead and injured, including two children, early on Friday. Four people were killed in an Israeli airstrike on a house in Rafah and Israeli tanks shelled targets just east of the city near the Egyptian border, medics and witnesses said.
The Israeli army said in an update on Friday that its forces had destroyed a Hamas command and control center in Gaza City's Sheijaia district, carried out a “targeted attack” on militant infrastructure in Khan Younis, and sites in the Rafah area that helped Hamas smuggle weapons. weapons to Gaza.
The heavy fighting, confirmed by many residents and militant sources reached by Reuters, raised questions about whether Israel's two-month air and ground assault on Gaza has significantly weakened Hamas, which it has vowed to destroy.
“The Gaza Strip turned into a fireball overnight, we could hear explosions and gunfire echoing from all directions,” Ahmed, 45, an electrician and father of six, told Reuters from a shelter in a central area of the densely populated enclave.
“They can destroy houses and roads and kill civilians from the air or by blind tank fire, but when they come face to face with the resistance, they lose. We have nothing to lose after everything they have done to our Gaza,” he said.
Continuous Israeli bombardments have destroyed much of the narrow coastal strip over the past two months. Palestinian health officials say nearly 19,000 people have been killed and thousands more are feared buried under the rubble.
Israel launched its attack in retaliation for a surprise cross-border action by Hamas.
First print: December 16, 2023 | 12:12 pm IST